League of Women Voters to hold land preservation tour

The League of Women Voters for the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton area is hosting a Wednesday bus tour of lands preserved through bond referendums in support of a fresh round with November’s election.

The bus tour includes stops at the Bluffton Oyster Co. and Widgeon Point on Lemon Island. Garrett Budds, conservation director for the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, will serve as guide.

“We’re making sure it’s strictly an informational tour, and that’s part of our role — to provide public education on the program,” he said.

About $90 million has been authorized for land preservation since 2002 through bond referendums, with about 20,400 acres bought up at an approximate value of $4,400 per acre, Budds said.

The Open Land trust is an independent nonprofit land conservation organization, the oldest in South Carolina. Beaufort County hired the group about three years ago to manage its rural and critical land program.

It most recently acquired 65 acres along the Okatie River, which was closed to shellfish harvesting by the state in the 1990s. Portions of the May River followed in 2010.

The ballot Nov. 6 will include a measure authorizing another $25 million in bonds to buy up land and leave it undeveloped for environmental and aesthetic reasons.

Running from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the tour will start at Fish Hall Creek Park, 10 Fish Haul Road, on Hilton Head Island.

The local League of Women Voters hasn’t taken an official position on the referendum, but its support stretches a ways back, said Karen Wessel, president of the local League.

“We have in the past supported the referendum for critical lands and we’d like to be able to do that with this referendum,” she said. “Basically, the League has always taken a firm stance when it comes to environmental issues and when it comes to historic areas and the culture of the Lowcountry.”

The cost of admission is $5 for League members and $7 for non-members. For reservations and additional information, please call Fran Holt at 837-3436.